India wants to win Asian Games hockey gold, qualify for Olympics: Harmanpreet

After India's eighth-place finish, Harmanpreet Singh said the team will now target Asian Games gold and qualify for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. India will be aiming to defend their Asian Games crown in Japan.Harmanpreet is hoping that the defence will improve (Courtesy: Hockey India)After a disappointing end to their World Cup campaign, Harmanpreet Singh said that India will shift their focus to the Asian Games and hope to win gold there. India finished 8th after a shootout heartbreak to Belgium in the 7th-8th place playoff. India failed to win any of their games against higher-ranked opposition during their tournament.However, the focus will now shift to the Asian Games next month where they will be hoping to defend their crown. India won the Asia Cup last year in convincing fashion. A gold medal win in Japan will allow India to qualify for the LA Olympics 2028.Speaking after the loss, Harmanpreet said that both India and Belgium didn't want to play in the 7th-8th place match, but his team will get confidence from their performance."Both teams didn't want to play for this position, and both were in the same mental status. But playing against the world's top team in front of their fans and performing well as a team is a big boost," said Harmanpreet, as quoted by PTI. The Indian captain said that the he is happy with the Belgium outing and will look to carry the momentum into the Asian Games."We kept talking about putting in a good performance for the entire 60 minutes, which we saw today. We're happy with the performance against Belgium, but not with the eighth-place finish. But this is a journey, and now our next goal is the Asian Games. We want to win the gold medal there and qualify for the Los Angeles Olympics," he said.'WE NEED TO BE STRONGER DEFENSIVELY' India's backline was under scrutiny as they conceded a total of 19 goals during the tournament, making them the sixth worst defence in the competition.Harmanpreet said that India will need to improve on this aspect in the coming assignments."There are no individual goals. If we win, we win as a team, and if we lose, it is also collective responsibility. We've learnt good lessons in defence throughout the tournament. If we don't defend well as a team, big teams will trouble you. We need to be stronger defensively. This is one area where we lagged behind," he said.India will start their Asian Games campaign against Indonesia on September 20.- EndsPublished On: Aug 29, 2026 20:19 IST